Chapter 24

Monday dawned clear and bright as Sunday. I awoke at my usual time, showered and read the morning paper. By the time I'd finished, the sun was well up and promised a gorgeous day. A quick check of the computer yielded no emails I needed to answer, and an hour-by-hour weather forecast that was so good it gave me an idea.

I did a quick check out the front window to confirm that Jerry had left, before I dug the Tracphone out and hit redial. Sherry answered on the second ring.

"Hello."

"Hi Sherry. This is John. I just had an idea that I wanted to run by you. It's such a pretty morning that I thought we might want to meet someplace outdoors, rather than in a McDonald's."

"Hmm- that sounds fine to me. I assume you have someplace in mind?"

"Yep- I was thinking that we might meet in Battery Park. There are some picnic tables down over the hill from the overlook, and it faces South, so we ought to get plenty of this sunshine. How about if we meet there at nine-thirty?"

"Ok, John. I think that would be great! It sure beats being cooped up in a fast food place, and it's more private, to boot. I'll see you there- I was just about to finish getting dressed anyhow."

I grinned to myself. "Uh, Sherry- just what are you wearing now?"

"A nightgown and robe, John! And you're not getting me started like that this morning!", Sherry said jokingly. "I'll see you shortly."

"Ok Sherry- I'll park in the upper lot and you park in the lower one and I'll meet you at the flagpole. Drive carefully, sweetheart!"

"I shall. You be careful, too John! Later, gator!"

"'Later!"

Sherry hung up, and I punched the "end" button and then turned off the phone and popped out the battery. The phone went back in the safe, and I finished getting dressed and ready to go.

Battery Park was an interesting place. It was named for the placement of a small Confederate artillery battery on the hilltop there during the early part of the Civil War. The purpose was to hinder the advance of a scratch Federal brigade moving up the railroad along the river.

As it turned out, the Federals had commandeered a couple of riverboats and were able to pass the battery on the river, which was at extreme range for the guns. Once the Federals were past, they disembarked a few troops, shook out a skirmish line and flanked the Confederates out of their positions and forced them to retreat, eventually back over the mountains and into Virginia.

The site of the battery was more or less forgotten except for an historic marker placed at along the road that crossed the hill there. When the Interstate was built, the road was cut at both ends by the right of way. An overpass to access the handful of houses that dotted the road reconnected one end. Eventually, the state Highway Department bought out the property there and deeded it over to the county for a park. Some of the old fields were leveled and graded to make picnic areas and playgrounds, and a nice overlook was built near the site of the battery, along with a flagpole and a memorial plaque.

When I was a boy, my friends and I came there often on our bikes and spent hours roaming the woods and reenacting the battle there (or at least the battle as we imagined it). It was a great place to play, since we didn't have to worry about traffic, and we explored every nook and cranny of the place.

All this passed through my head, as I drove toward the park. There were lots of good memories tied up in that place. On the way I stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts to buy a dozen assorted cake and filled donuts and fill a thermos with coffee.

I arrived at the park ahead of Sherry and parked at the far end of the upper parking lot. I gathered up all the stuff and started across the lot. Sherry pulled into the lower lot just as I reached the bottom of the steps with my burdens.

I freed up an arm and gave a cheery wave as Sherry opened the car door and stepped out. I was mildly surprised to see her dressed as usual; white, button-up blouse, blue denim calf-length skirt, but white running shoes instead of flats. Then she turned and I got a better look and could see a change. Her blouse was unbuttoned and she was wearing a light green t-shirt underneath it. It was a nice look for her.

Sherry spotted me and waved back with a big smile on her face. She came across the lot and gave me a big hug. I hugged her back as best I could with my hands full of bags.

"What the heck do you have there, John?" she asked.

"Coffee and some assorted donuts." I replied.

"OK- that accounts for the one bag, but what about the other?"

"Ahhh, well that's a surprise", I said with a grin. "You'll see in good time".

"Grrrr! John, you're going to drive me crazy!" she laughed.

I laughed back at her. "It won't be long. Lets go find a table where we'll be a little more private."

"OK. Hey, do you want me to carry some of that?"

"Sure- how about taking the donuts. I'll carry the thermos and this other stuff."

Sherry took the bag with the donuts and we walked side by side down a graveled path that led to a series of picnic tables scattered around a clearing that overlooked the river.

We found one that had a nice southern exposure to let the sun in, but still sheltered from the main area by some bushes. We put our stuff down on the table, and I turned to Sherry, stretched out my arms, and said, "Now let me give you a proper greeting!"

Sherry smiled and leaned into the embrace. She turned her face up to me and I kissed her, gently at first, then with more passion. It seemed that neither of us had forgotten where the noses went. I could feel my cock inflating as our bodies responded to each other. Finally, I tore myself away. My heart was racing. I hadn't had this feeling for a good while.

Sherry looked equally flustered. Her face was flushed and her breathing was a little ragged.

"Whew!" I said with a smile. "That was quite a hello kiss!"

Sherry grinned back. "Sure was! I've been looking forward to that since we decided to get together."

"Me, too! You're certainly a good kisser."

"I'm surprised you'd say that, John. I really don't have a lot of experience- its been pretty much pecks on the cheek and "chaste" kisses for me."

"Well- I guess you just had some natural talent waiting to come out, Sherry. That was about as hot a non-French kiss as I've ever had."

Sherry gave me a wide, happy grin. "Why thank you, kind sir!".

"You're most welcome, Milady! Anyhow, lets have some coffee and donuts."

"And surprises ... don't forget that", Sherry replied.

"Ah, yes ... and surprises."

We sat across the table from each other and I poured us each a cup of coffee. Both of us took it with cream, no sugar. I snagged a raspberry filled donut, while Sherry took a vanilla cream filled one.

I took one look at what she was eating, and had to laugh.

Sherry gave me a quizzical look. "What's so funny?"

I did my best to keep a straight face. "Well, I was just thinking that I had something nice and cream-filled for you", I said with a wink and my best Dirty-Old-Man leer.

When I said that, Sherry was in the midst of taking a sip of coffee. She laughed so hard that coffee mist sprayed across the table.

"John! That's so nasty!" she said when she'd recovered.

"Nasty, but true my dear."

Sherry's face reddened a bit. "Yes, nasty but true."

After that, we relaxed and chatted for a bit. I learned that Sherry had grown up in a little rural town about twenty miles away. She had been a late baby, her parents having given up on having children and being surprised when Sherry came along when her mother was 42.

Her father had been a part-time farmer and factory worker at a plant that made axes and other hand tools. The plant had closed down about the time Sherry graduated from High School. Luckily, her father had worked there long enough to qualify for a small pension.

Her mother had been a farm wife, doing many of the daily chores around the small farm. Sherry was the only child, and she had helped with the chores ever since she was old enough to be useful.

She had done very well in school, showing an early talent for music. She'd been in the band, and the chorus, and earned a full scholarship, but had worked in the library to get spending money. Sherry majored in Music and had a minor in Elementary Education, lacking only her student teaching to qualify for a job.

She'd met Jerry when they were both seniors and taking a required religion class. He'd been shy, but eventually worked up the nerve to ask her to have a cup of coffee with him after class. She had had practically no experience with men (and Jerry had had about the same with women), and found herself enjoying the attention. They became friends.

Jerry had grown up in a coal camp in a remote area of the county. His father had been killed in a roof fall when he was five. His mother had been a schoolteacher in a one-room elementary school. She had raised him very strictly, and had been determined to keep him out of the mines. It was from her that Jerry had learned his religious convictions.

He had worked his way through college, taking the General Business curriculum.

Eventually Jerry asked her to marry him after graduation. Sherry agreed, and they were married in the little independent Freewill Baptist church that Jerry had been raised in.

Jerry found a job in the parts department of the car dealership, and they settled down in the house they were living in now.

Jerry had discouraged her from getting a job, saying that a woman's duty according to the Bible was to take care of the household. She had been disappointed, but decided not to fight it.

Over the years, Jerry had become even more dogmatic and rigid. He had become obsessed with financial security, and kept tight control over every dollar. Their house had been paid off in record time. Jerry doled out a set amount of money weekly for groceries, and insisted on paying each bill himself. Sherry was not even listed on the bank accounts.

Jerry's mom had died shortly after their fifth wedding anniversary from a long bout with lung cancer. Her illness had depleted any estate, and she left nothing to them but some keepsakes.

Sherry's folks had died a couple of years later in a car accident. They had been coming home from a reunion of axe plant retirees, and were hit head-on by a drunk driver going the wrong way on the Interstate. They had both been killed instantly.

Their will directed that the farm and all but 5 acres of the land, which contained the old family cemetery and a small cabin and pond be sold and the proceeds placed in a trust.

The income from the trust was to be used to maintain the cemetery and cabin. Any income left was to be reinvested in the trust. Sherry was the only one that could access the trust, and then only with the permission of the trustee, a retired judge that had been friends with her parents.

When Jerry found out about the terms of the will he had been furious. He had expected to receive the entire proceeds of the estate. Sherry said that he had raged at her parents and her for days. She also confided that he parents had never liked Jerry, although they pretended to for her sake, and that they wanted her to have something for herself, independent of Jerry.

She visited the cemetery and her parent's graves several times each year. The cabin was rented as a retreat for writers and other artists, mostly during the summer months, as it didn't have a lot of amenities for cooler weather.